Sunday, May 25th, 2025 on 5 at 9:00pm
With unprecedented access to one of the biggest joint inquests the country has seen, this Cause of Death special follows senior coroner Dr James Adeley as he investigates the tragic deaths of four pedestrians in brutal road traffic collisions.
Astonishingly, they were all killed in extremely similar circumstances, but the grieving families all feel that these heartbreaking events can’t just be coincidence. As the investigation continues it becomes clear that the deaths were the result of drivers still on the roads with dangerously defective eyesight. Eyesight that has given them licence to kill.
Friends Marie Cunningham and Grace Foulds were killed while crossing the road together in Southport, while Anne Ferguson was struck down in Lancashire just metres from her front door. In a tragic irony, one of the killed pedestrians – Peter Westwell – had recently given up his own driving license because of concerns about his own eyesight.
Heartbroken families and friends of the victims share the devastation of their loss and raise the questions they have about how the drivers who killed their loved ones were ever able to be on the road.
As Dr Adeley tries to discover what happened as the police’s serious collision investigation units are called in to painstakingly build a case against the drivers involved. The coroner and police establish the facts with the help of pathologists, medical experts and eye witnesses who describe the moments after the crashes and their efforts to save the victims. What soon becomes clear is that the four crashes are likely the tip of a national iceberg.
When the coroner digs deeper into the background of the drivers, he begins to find that all three drivers involved knew they were unfit to be behind the wheel but continued to drive regardless. As the final inquest draws in, Dr Adeley shines a spotlight on whether Britain’s licensing system is fit for purpose or is hopelessly failing the public, in a powerful investigation into systemic failings with tragic stories and grieving families who demand answers, action and accountability.